Section 49: Disciplinary action against licensee

49. Disciplinary action against licensee (1) Without prejudice to the other provisions of this Act, the licensing authority may, at any time, refuse to renew, or may suspend for such period as he may determine, or revoke or cancel from such date as he may determine, any licence where— (a) any information furnished by the applicant for the issue or renewal of the licence was, at the time when the information was furnished, false in a material respect or was subject to a material omission; (b) any substantial shareholder within the meaning of the Companies Act or director or manager of the licensee is convicted of an offence under this Act or of any offence involving fraud or dishonesty, or is in breach of regulations made under this Act; (c) the licensee knowingly or recklessly supplies to the licensing authority material information that is false or misleading; (d) the licensee, an employee of the licensee or any other person acting on behalf of the licensee has failed to comply with any condition of the licence and has not complied with such condition within such period as the licensing authority may allow after delivery of a written notice to the licensee requiring such failure to be remedied within a specified period; (e) the licensing authority has reasonable grounds to suspect that the licensee has transferred, assigned or sublet the licence or is only nominally the true licensee; (f) without the prior written consent of the licensing authority, the licensee sells, alienates or ceases to operate at any of the premises to which his licence relates; (g) the licensee fails to pay his licence fees under this Act; (h) the licensee fails to pay, or furnish security for the payment of, any duty or tax or to fulfil his obligations under any Revenue Law; [Issue 3] E15 – 22 Revised Laws of Mauritius (i) the licensee, an employee of the licensee or any other person acting on behalf of the licensee has failed to comply with this Act; (j) the licensee, or in the case of a company, any director, manager or officer of that company, is no longer a fit and proper person; (k) the premises to which the licence relates cease, in the opinion of the Commissioner, to be suitable for the purposes for which they were licensed; (l) the licensee is or becomes disqualified from holding a licence; (m) the licensee contravenes any provision of this Act or is in breach of any condition of his licence; (n) the licensee fails to comply with any notice given by the Director-General under any Revenue Law; (o) the business of the licensee has been conducted in such a way as to be a danger to public health, public order or public safety; (p) the licensee has acted in a dishonourable, improper, fraudulent, dishonest or immoral manner, or has engaged in any violent conduct on the premises to which the licence relates; or (q) the licensee is convicted of permitting drunkenness or violent, riotous, disorderly or immoral conduct on premises to which the licence relates. (2) (a) While a licence is suspended, the holder shall not, to the extent of the suspension and during the period of the suspension, be authorised to permit, undertake, participate or engage in the business specified in the licence. (b) The licensing authority shall, on suspension of a licence, affix a notice of the suspension specifying the duration of the suspension in a conspicuous place of the licensed premises. (c) Where a licence is revoked or cancelled, the licensing authority shall affix a notice of e a licence is suspended, the holder shall not, to the extent of the suspension and during the period of the suspension, be authorised to permit, undertake, participate or engage in the business specified in the licence. (b) The licensing authority shall, on suspension of a licence, affix a notice of the suspension specifying the duration of the suspension in a conspicuous place of the licensed premises. (c) Where a licence is revoked or cancelled, the licensing authority shall affix a notice of the revocation or cancellation in a conspicuous place of the licensed premises during a period of 14 days as from the date of the revocation or cancellation. (3) The licensing authority shall, subject to subsection (4), before the suspension, revocation or cancellation of a licence, by written notice, inform the licensee of the reasons for the proposed suspension, revocation or cancellation and request the licensee to submit to the licensing authority, within 14 days of the notification, written reasons why the licence should not be suspended, revoked or cancelled. (4) Where the licensing authority is of opinion that a licence is to be suspended, revoked or cancelled with immediate effect, written notice of the suspension, revocation or cancellation and the reasons therefor shall be given to the licensee forthwith, and the licensee shall be entitled to submit to the licensing authority, within 14 days of the notification, written reasons why the licence should be reinstated. E15 – 23 [Issue 5] Excise Act (5) The licensing authority may, at any time, reinstate any licence suspended under subsection (1), but shall not do so unless the reason for the suspension has ceased to exist. (6) Where the licensing authority suspends, revokes or cancels a licence, no refund of the licence fee shall be made or compensation paid in respect of the period of the suspension or the unexpired period of the licence. (7) The holder of a licence which has been revoked or cancelled shall, on receipt of a notification to that effect by the licensing authority, within 7 days, surrender the licence to the licensing authority. (8) Any person who fails to comply with subsection (7) shall commit an offence. [S. 49 repealed and replaced by s. 6 (d) of Act 10 of 2010 w.e.f. 24 December 2010.]